The Story Behind “Bliss” the Iconic Background for Windows XP

PublishedMay 13, 2014

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I’ve been very busy lately and I didn’t have time to share my thoughts about this when it launched, but this video points out a number of very interesting things about cameras. The Image was taken with a Mamiya RZ67 and Fuji Film on a tripod, near the photographers home, and was never was delivered without any retouching or editing.

The photographer Charles O’Rear believes that possibly the most recognizable image and most viewed image in the world, wouldn’t have been possible if he were using a 35mm SLR. While there are perpetual debates about the value of medium format photography in todays digital world, we can certainly all agree that in the world of film, bigger is always better, and that the larger film size of a 6×7 negative yielded the incredible detail, clarity and dynamic range present in this iconic image.

For some reason, people often forget in the digital age, that larger sensors still have more dynamic range and an innate ability to take better pictures in certain situations. People compare the Nikon D800(e) to $60,000 cameras from PhaseOne which is not right. In a setting where the the PhaseOne is capable of taking a good picture, it will outperform the D800 100% of the time, I will tell you that right now. However, you’ll notice a big caveat to that statement being “[where the camera] is capable of taking a good picture”, yes medium format digital cameras have a lot of limitations both because of their sensor and the relatively outdated camera bodies that they are mounted on. The Nikon D800 shouldn’t be compared to the PhaseOne IQ280, because really, it compliments it. If one were to draw a venn diagram and look at areas where the two cameras overlap, the IQ280 will take a better picture. However, if you look at what the IQ280 cannot do, you see that the D800 offers the most resolution. If you want to use f/1.4 glass for portraits or lowlight, well then the Nikon D800 is your resolution king, if you want to just shoot in low light, it has the most resolution in a camera with high ISO capabilities, if you want to shoot telephoto images with the most resolution, these are all areas where a medium format back, whether it be from PhaseOne, MamiyaLeaf, Pentax, Leica or Hasselblad falls short, and for the foreseeable future will fall short.

I think this video serves as a nice reminder, that different formats exist for different reasons and that there are times when you want to use one format versus another. People certainly become polarized with discussions of modern cameras of different formats because they are expensive purchases, the person who bought a D800 wants to defend their purchase to themselves, and so does the person with the medium format digital back, and it is unlikely that either of these people will concede that the other side is correct. Well in reality, they are both wrong, it depends on the situation and what you are trying to accomplish. Interestingly, this argument doesn’t exist around film, no one is going to question that a 8×10 negative trumps a 4×5 negative which is better then a 6×45 which is better then a 35mm and people used the camera which allowed them to take the best image possible under the circumstances given the strengths and limitations of different film formats, camera brands, and camera systems, and aspect ratio’s based on their situation and this is something that we all need to remember still holds true in the digital world, despite wider differences in price and fewer sensor formats.